Hiking above the inversion layer, a thick layer of fog below you, is certainly alluring. It feels like you are above a sea of clouds. But hiking into the inversion layer is a whole new experience. The harsh light and the associated shadows get soft while trees and rocks now have a gentle blur. Occasionally, the fog highlights shafts of sunlight passing through the trees.
In this winter scene, all these effects came into play on a sunny day in a snow-covered landscape. I captured a few shots of this fleeting scene just as the fog started to thicken again.
Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Kodachrome color
The winter in Seattle has been upping its game with spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the last few days. While I missed out on some of the action, I was still able to catch a decent bit of color.
Here is one from a foggy morning where the fog almost managed to play spoilsport, clearing just in time for the colors in the sky to shine through.
Seattle
WA USA
Winter sunrise
A while back, I sat down and thought about the effort that goes into sunrise photography, and I realized that it wasn't easy. It requires sacrificing sleep (and likely your previous night), hiking in the dark in unknown terrain, relying on multiple forecasts for a good sunrise and hoping they hold, and praying that you are not too late for the colors if they show up. In contrast, sunset photography is not as complex as there are fewer variables to consider since many of the unknowns become known. And if the forecast doesn't hold, you can always turn around. A colorful sunset is usually the 'icing on the cake' for a dayhike, whereas a colorful sunrise is the act you are putting all your hopes on and sacrificing a lot for.
This was one such sunrise for which I woke up at 2 in the morning and endured a 3hr drive and an hour of hiking to get to. Thankfully the forecast held, and the effort paid off.
You can purchase my 2024 calendar, which features the above image for December, at this link. And as before, all proceeds get donated to the Sierra Club Foundation
Mount Baker Wilderness
WA USA
Still Waters
As the kayak drifted slowly through the shallow waters of Cedar creek, I passed by baldcypress trees with their broad ribs and towering tupelo trees cradling the riverbank. The morning light of late fall lit up the faded yellows and orange of the swamp cottonwoods. The still waters of the creek created a sublime and moving reflection of the entire scene. The gentle chorus of songbirds as they were starting their morning flight echoed throughout the forest.
The everchanging pattern of colors, light and sound captured, in my mind, the essence of Congaree National Park, which preserves the last old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. This scene from Cedar creek in the National Park is the featured image for November in my 2024 calendar available at this link.
Congaree National Park
SC USA
Reflections of fall
The surest sign of fall across north-western US and most of Canada is the larches changing to a golden yellow in unison. Out in the PNW, this synchronized phenomenon happens like clockwork across all the major larch forests in early October. And for the most part, these forests lay hidden in the higher altitudes and require a bit of effort to get up and see the golden palettes.
And even though the show is brief, I savor every moment of hiking under a canopy of vibrant orange larch forest.
You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link. And as before, all proceeds get donated to the Sierra Club Foundation
Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest
WA USA
Above the clouds
September in the PNW is truly the best time to explore the vast hinterlands of the Cascades. The temperatures are a bit cooler, the bugs are gone, fires usually die down, and the occasional storms provide for some photogenic cloudscapes. And it comes with the added bonus of delicious ripe blueberries and huckleberries waiting to be picked up. The stark changes in the hues of the landscape towards the end of the month is just icing on the cake.
I can't wait for the next year to see such mountaintop vistas once again.
You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link.
Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
The high Caucasus
In August of this year, I found myself wandering through the Svaneti region of northern Georgia (the country). This mountainous province, landlocked within the high mountains of the Caucasus range, was a delight to explore. Snow-capped peaks towering over 15000ft lined the northern border of the country, interspersed by massive glaciers and alpine landscapes. This was the region that put Georgia on the prominent circuits of the European hiking community. And after spending a few days here, I could understand why.
Here is one of the mountain passes I summited during a 4-day trek in the Svaneti region, and is the featured image for August in my 2024 photography calendar. You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link. And as before, all proceeds get donated to the Sierra Club Foundation.
Svaneti
Georgia
Starlight magic
The transformation of the PNW in the summer is a sight to behold. Snow-covered winter landscapes become sun-drenched. Long nights transform to long days. And dreary grey days are replaced with a beautiful tapestry of sunlight during the day and a bejeweled carpet of stars at night. For long, I had visualized, in my minds eye, of a scene where the bright arc of the Milky Way draws out over the snow-capped summit of Mt Rainier while streaks of a meteor show dazzle in a starry spectacle.
This image, featured in the July month of my 2024 calendar, is a realization of such a scene. You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link.
Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA
Novarupta
While the term Katmai National Park conjures up images of Fat Bear Week and of gluttonous grizzles gorging on salmon, I found the volcanic wastelands of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes far more fascinating. The eruption of the Novarupta volcano which deposited hundreds of feet of ash on this vast valley took place in 1912, and it was the largest eruption of the 20th century. Though news of this eruption was overshadowed by an even more titanic disaster, the sinking of the Titanic.
Hiking into this remote valley left me with an itch to explore more of this unique landscape someday.
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
Katmai National Park
AK USA
Pacific bliss
May of 2023 will forever remind me of the furthest distance I have ever traveled to visit a National Park. Situated 2500 mi west of Hawaii, the National Park of the American Samoa is spread across a chain of islands in the southern Pacific. Getting to American Samoa proved half the challenge. Getting to an even more remote island, which featured one of the best shoreline coral reefs, undoubtedly harder. But the effort required to get to this tropical paradise was well worth the reward. Hence, this became the featured image for May for my 2024 calendar
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
National Park of the American Samoa
American Samoa